I'm trying to learn some baroque pieces, notably organ chorales of Bach and Buxtehude. Most scores note more or less ornamentation, which I'm trying to learn to play. However, as I listen to various performances of the same works, the players have diverse approaches to the ornamentation -- some keep closely to the score, some skip and add a little, some add significant amounts throughout performances.
I believe there is probably no right-or-wrong answer, and ultimately I'll play what feels and sounds "good" to me, but I'd appreciate opinions/experience. Is this a little akin to perhaps playing jazz or improvisation, the performer freely playing little riffs while sticking to the main melodies?
I found a very interesting and helpful book http://www.archive.org/details/organworksofbach005741mbp written in about 1922 called "The Organ Works of Bach" by Harvey Grace. It is 300+ pages discussing the history, interpretation, registration, and such. In it, he opines that, referring to the playing of "O Mensch...." and two other pieces,
"At the risk of being called a vandal I venture to suggest that most of the ornaments may well be omitted. They belong to the clavecin rather than to the organ, and they add a great deal to the technical difficulty without contributing anything notable on the expressive side. On the contrary, in some cases they induce a trivial and showy effect. Moreover, they are as a whole obsolete, and they sometimes give an antiquated effect to music which is still vital. The most we can safely do is to make use of a judicious selection. After all, such things were always more or less ad libitum, so that in omitting some of them we are doing no more than exercising a traditional right of choice."
As I seek my own voice with these new (to me) pieces, I'd appreciate and benefit from hearing yours.
Thanks in advance.
Barry Gerken
I believe there is probably no right-or-wrong answer, and ultimately I'll play what feels and sounds "good" to me, but I'd appreciate opinions/experience. Is this a little akin to perhaps playing jazz or improvisation, the performer freely playing little riffs while sticking to the main melodies?
I found a very interesting and helpful book http://www.archive.org/details/organworksofbach005741mbp written in about 1922 called "The Organ Works of Bach" by Harvey Grace. It is 300+ pages discussing the history, interpretation, registration, and such. In it, he opines that, referring to the playing of "O Mensch...." and two other pieces,
"At the risk of being called a vandal I venture to suggest that most of the ornaments may well be omitted. They belong to the clavecin rather than to the organ, and they add a great deal to the technical difficulty without contributing anything notable on the expressive side. On the contrary, in some cases they induce a trivial and showy effect. Moreover, they are as a whole obsolete, and they sometimes give an antiquated effect to music which is still vital. The most we can safely do is to make use of a judicious selection. After all, such things were always more or less ad libitum, so that in omitting some of them we are doing no more than exercising a traditional right of choice."
As I seek my own voice with these new (to me) pieces, I'd appreciate and benefit from hearing yours.
Thanks in advance.
Barry Gerken